


All in a Day's Work

by vexednperplexed



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Bad ass hook alert, Big bad beastie, Casually looking for a bean, Gen, Light swimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 11:48:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7713805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vexednperplexed/pseuds/vexednperplexed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After travelling to another realm again by accident, Killian looks for a way home. It's all in a day's work for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All in a Day's Work

**Author's Note:**

> I've noticed something involving Hook. Any time he does something badass, it's off screen. And no one asks him how he does it. He just found a bean and out ran a curse. Just found Emma in New York. Sailed his ship to New York and located Rumpel to stab him. Snuck his hook to Cora and was there to meet her. 
> 
> So this is something that happens off screen. Enjoy.
> 
> I've also only read through this twice. Pardon any typos.

His feet pounded against the floor of the dungeon. It was a bloody maze, and it was a miracle he'd gotten as far as he had. Pitch black in all directions, every single bloody torch extinguished from the damp, and the torch in his hand was going to go out at any moment. 

It had started off as such a normal evening, too. Dinner at Granny's with his family - thinking of them as such still makes his heart clench from joy and long years of loneliness - and then a night at home with Swan. That was all he'd planned until someone decided to open up a bloody portal right in the middle of main street. Now they were trying to find a way home in the middle of this dungeon, where some sort of wizard told them there was a bean. All the way down here? Truly? It was likely a death trap.

They had decided to split up into pairs to search the dungeon. That had been all well and good until he and Swan were separated by a blasted trap door. He'd stepped on a trip stone and fallen quite a long way, Emma yelling for him as he fell down. The door sealed shut above him moments after he fell, and he could hear pounding above as he descended into the depths of the dungeon. A trap door that only opened once, it seemed. It was likely less of a trap and more of a way to separate tomb robbers. Pick them off one by one... that's how he'd do it.

Killian had landed hard on his back, and it knocked the wind out of him. He laid there for quite some time before he could finally breathe again. He managed to find a single torch still lit down in these paths, so he took it with him. He was glad for it as well since every other one was out. He had tried to light them originally, but he found them far too soaked from the cave drippings to manage anything.

At some point as he walked, he heard a ghastly roar from inside the tunnels. That was when he started running. There was a beast in these paths, stalking him perhaps. It didn't bode well for him. 

The roar sounded from behind him again, closer this time. Whatever it was, it was catching up with him. Killian didn't like it. The worst part about the dungeons was that the sound echoed terribly off of the walls. It made determining where the sound was coming from extremely difficult. Was the beast down a hall to his left? His right? Was it even behind him, or was he running towards the thing? He couldn't tell, and it was maddening. Killian didn't like being kept in the dark, quite literally. He had stopped being afraid of the dark from a very young age, but that didn't mean he wasn't wary of the things that lurked in it.

Or roared in it.

He determined he was getting closer to the beast when the next roar echoed so loudly that the whole bloody tunnel shook. Debris fell from above him, making his heart race. If the beast was so large as to shake the tunnels, he could very well find his end long before the beast found him. One roar could bring the whole thing down on him. He needed to find a way out. And, he was starting to feel claustrophobic. 

His torch reflected off of the glistening walls and small puddles along the pathway. Wherever he was headed, it was getting wetter. Up ahead there was a light at the end of the tunnel - turn of phrase quite intended - and he felt himself sigh in relief. Too relieved. Killian moved faster, but his speed betrayed him. He slipped and came crashing down to the ground with a loud thud and a groan. He dropped his torch in a puddle, which immediately extinguished. Just his luck, really. At least there was a light just ahead.

But that was probably a bad thing. His instincts were telling him that something terrible lay in wait for him. Whatever was in that light was not a good thing. But he didn't have much of a choice. Killian got to his feet, sliding as he stood. He took it slower, though. His steps were easy as he approached the light. There were no alcoves this way that he could see, nowhere for a beast or some other sort of nasty to hide and spring out at him. It made him ever more cautious. Since nothing could hide from him, he also couldn't hide from whatever was in that light.

He pressed himself against the wall before the opening of the tunnel. Before him was a large, circular expanse of water. Above the water was the open sky. All along the walls were other tunnels that emptied into the basin below. Killian thought about what the fall would feel like from the tunnels higher up along the walls. Not comfortable, he imagined. He wasn't that far from the water, perhaps just a foot or so from the surface. 

Killian kicked a stone into the water. Almost immediately, he heard the terrible roar once more. The ripples had disturbed the beast in the expanse, and his heart clenched as he saw the creature rise up from the water. It was enormous. As it surfaced, the water pushed away from it. Its ripples were bloody waves, and the water washed over his feet as it rose.

It was a damned hydra. Six serpentine heads with long necks, and even from this distance (the damned thing was well across the way) he could see its long teeth. One tooth was easily the size of his arm. Killian gulped. He could turn around, try to find another way around and make his way through the dark. And he almost did until he saw an opening across the water. There were pillars around it with lit torches. The fire of the torches were a bluish-green, some sort of magical fire. Perhaps it was resistant to the damp down here. If he were to hide a bean down here, it would be through that tunnel.

The hydra was looking around at the tunnels on the other side of the expanse. It was bloody looking for the source of the disturbance, wonderful. It still had several tunnels to search through before it got to him, but considering it was a single stone he kicked into the water, and how quickly it reacted, Killian came to the logical conclusion that the beast would notice him instantly should he attempt to swim across. 

He stuck his head out to peer along the walls. To his surprise, while the walls appear slick and completely smooth, there were hand holds and foot holds to climb along the walls. There was one hold well within reach. He wondered if his hook would be able to find a hold on the smooth surfaces, but he was certain he would be able to climb it. It would just be slow going.

The beast was still on the far side of the expanse. He could wait it out, go back further into the tunnels and wait for the damned thing to go back under. And he almost did just that until he heard another different type of roar. A chill ran up his spine once he realized what was happening. The hydra was breathing fire into the tunnels it searched. Killian could see steam billowing out from the tunnels it had already cleared. How far did that flame go?! Did he want to chance it and find out?

Killian made a decision. Now or never. Without a second thought, he reached for the first hand hold and stepped up onto the stones. The first few steps were difficult and slick, and he almost slipped into the water instantly when he tried to catch his hook on one of the stones. But he got the hang of it quickly. That tended to happen when one's life was on the line. And besides, this was hardly the first time he had ventured into dangerous territory with loot on the line. Once a pirate, always a pirate.

The way was not straight. It rose higher and higher, to the point where he was certain that falling would break a bone. But it was still heading over to the opening where he needed to be. After a few moments of climbing, he came to a split in the path. One lead down to a safer distance from the water, and one lead higher. As much as he would love to be a bit safer in this stunt, years of doing just this told him that was not the way to go. When people hid their treasures, they didn't want their traps to be safe. If he went down, he would likely find one of the holds to be a trick, falling away instantly and landing him in the water where he was certain to be attacked by the hydra. No, up was the way. 

He reached for the higher stone and continued on. 

When he was about halfway across the expanse, his arms started to tire. The familiar burning sensation from straining himself too far began to set into his muscles and joints. But it didn't matter. He needed to continue on. If he worked past the exhaustion, he would catch his second wind. It would get easier once he passed that hurtle.

What would also make it easier was the hydra's distance becoming smaller and smaller. It was only a few tunnels away from him now, breathing its fire breath into each opening. It would find him soon, and then he would have a real problem on his hand far worse than the exhaustion. If he hurried, he could perhaps make it the rest of the way without the beast finding him. Perhaps.

He increased his speed, barely even getting a secure grip before reaching for the next hold. It was a poor decision. His hook slipped on a particularly damp stone, and he lost his footing. Killian let out a loud yelp, only holding onto the wall by the tips of his fingers now. He had to swing himself up to try and grab onto the stone with his hook once more, but the damage had already been done. The hydra roared. It had noticed him.

The beast rushed over to him at once, its wake crashing up against the stone walls. Killian looked over his shoulder to find the beast's maw coming down on him. He had just a moment, just a breath to swing himself up onto the next ledge to dodge the damned thing. When the beast got a mouthful of stone, it roared angrily. It was so loud that Killian almost lost his grip from the walls vibrating with the sound. Another head was about to chomp down on him, and Killian didn't even think before he acted. He let go of the wall.

He fell several feet down and landed, miraculously, on another one of the beast's heads. It was slick and slimy, and there was no way he was going to be able to stand. His hook sunk into the thick flesh of the hydra, and luckily that kept him from pummeling into the water below. The beast didn't even notice right away. When another head came away with stone lodge in its teeth, it searched for him. Killian managed to catch his breath before it found him, and he was glad he had that moment. The head he had managed to secure himself on began to thrash about wildly. Screaming, he tried to hang on, sinking his hook deeper into the flesh of the beast. 

When Killian didn't come loose, the hydra tried a different tactic. It threw its head against the wall. 

The first attempt missed Killian by mere centimeters, and he didn't like his odds of being so lucky the second time. As the beast swung its head back to go for round two, Killian tried to dislodge his hook from its head. He had to time this perfectly. Too soon, and he wouldn't make it. Too late, and he would be crushed regardless. Time seemed to move in slow motion for him as he waited for his opportunity... Wait for it... wait for it...

Killian kicked himself from the beast's head as it slammed against the wall once more, hoping that he timed it correctly. As he fell through the air with the momentum of the beast's swing and his own send off, he reached for the holdings on the wall. Make it! Make it! he chanted in his head. He could do this!

And he did! His hook sank into the rock, and next his hand came up to grip the holding. He had managed to get off of the beast's head and back onto the wall in one piece. Killian recovered before the beast, either because he hadn't been the one to slam his head against the wall, or because his adrenaline was running high. Either way, he swung himself over to another hold, and then another before the beast shook off the damage it caused itself. The beast had also unintentionally (he assumed anyway) gotten him closer to his destination. He was so close, he could almost taste it. 

The hydra came to chomp at him once again, and Killian kicked off from the wall and tried to sink his hook into the holding just below him. But he missed. For god's sake, he bloody missed!

Killian fell into the water below, plummeting down into the depths. Having not been prepared for a dip, he hadn't even had a chance to get a lungful of air before he hit the water. He kicked himself up to the surface and took in a large breath, gasping and choking on the water that had managed to get in before the air. This time, the hydra recovered first.

As he was gasping for air, a large flipper the size of a small ship came descending down upon him, shoving him under the water once again. Killian choked on the water as he tried to kick himself away from the fin. He swam as far away as he could, inching closer and closer to the surface. The fin had knocked him down quite far, and his lungs were burning with the need to breathe as he broke the surface. Coughing and sputtering, he tried desperately to swim while catching his breath. It made his strokes short and sporadic, and the beast was bringing its fin down again before he could react. Once more, he was lodged under the water with barely enough air in his lungs.

He was going to drown.

His chest was burning, his throat felt as if it was closing. But he had been in far more desperate situations before. All he needed to do was push through it, just like he had when he was climbing. Push through the pain. Push through the burning. He could catch his second wind! He would make it to that door way! He would get home.

Instead of surfacing instantly, he fought against his instinct to breathe and kept swimming. Using the depths to hide, he swam farther away from the beast. Keep going, he told himself. You can get a little bit farther. When black spots started to cloud his vision, he finally surfaced. The beast was several yards away from him now. Killian gasped as he took in a breath. Of course that alerted the beast to his position, but at least he had a bit more room and a bit more time to react.

With a lungful of air, he dove at a diagonal, away from the beast but still forward towards his goal. Just seconds after his dive, the fin came down again. This time, he managed to dodge it. He kicked away from the hydra and its fin and swam through the dark, murky water once again. When he resurfaced, he was only a few feet away from the ledge. The beast roared upon realizing this and lurched for him. Killian launched himself at the ledge, pumping his arms through the water to make that final distance.

The waves created by the beast rushing for him pushed him the few final feet forward and surged above the ledge. He was almost swept completely over the landing, but he sunk his hook down into the rock to stop himself from falling over the other side.

The hydra brought its enormous maw down upon him, but he luckily managed to roll into the opening. As soon as he passed through the archway, a large door slammed shut above him. It cut the hydra off from him. He could hear the beast roaring and slamming itself against the wall, desperate to get to its prey. But it couldn't break down the door. Magical indeed.

Killian panted heavily as he pushed himself to his knees. He was in another tunnel, this one lit by the same eerie blue-green torches that had been on the pillars outside. It was still damp and dim, but he could see. He shivered as the cold bit through his skin, and his clothes clung to him. But he was better off here than he was out there. Killian just hoped this was the right place, and that he hadn't trapped himself.

He stepped through the tunnel slowly, adrenaline still coursing through his veins and making him wary. He felt that the end was near, but that didn't mean it truly was. A good trap had stages. The maze was one, the beast another. There had to be at least one more.

The tunnel seemed never ending. Each step got him closer and closer to another block of tunnel and blue-green torches. He felt like he had been walking forever. Maybe the last stage was just testing his perseverance. He kept walking, however. 

Killian walked on. And on. And on. His legs were tiring from it all, and still all he saw was tunnel and torches. Unable to take another single step without reaction, Killian pressed himself against the wall just below a torch and groaned in frustration. This tunnel truly was never-ending! He had bested that bloody beast only to find himself in a tunnel that would continue on for eternity, and he was never going to get out. He wanted to punch at the wall, kick it, throw the torches. Anything to even make this one spot appear different from the others! Anything! 

Punching and kicking the wall would likely lead to injury, though, and Killian was not interested in being in pain. He could throw the torch. He pulled the damned thing from its place against the wall, ready to toss the damned thing. But something caught his eye. As he moved the torch, he saw something glimmer a blue-green hue along the ground. knelt to the ground to bring the torch closer. There was something written there, glittering the same color as the torch. Curious... magical writing.

It read 'All is not as it appears'. Interesting. He stood and continued walking forward until he saw words again. He leaned down towards the ground, and again the words read 'All is not as it appears'. Alright, fine. So was the tunnel not a tunnel? If it wasn't a tunnel, then what the bloody hell was it? Once more, he rose and stepped forward until he saw words. 'All is not as it appears'. Was it the same thing written over and over again? 

Killian stepped towards the wall between torches, wondering if perhaps there was something written there where he couldn't see them from the light of the torches along the wall. Grinning, he found he was right. But his grin fell away once he read the words. 'Not all walls are walls'. What the bloody hell did that mean? He had pressed himself against the wall just minutes before. Of course the wall was a wall! 

But the torch he was holding was clearly a magical torch. Perhaps he had not been pressed against the wall with the correct object in hand? Killian held his hook out in front of him as he stepped closer to the wall. When he should have heard the clink of metal against stone, he found that he could keep going. And keep going he did. Killian walked right through the wall and into what appeared to be a courtyard. The sky was open above him. There was grass at his feet all around him. It was another circle, much like the one that held water and a hydra. This one simply held grass... and a podium right smack in the middle with a small box sat upon it.

Cautiously, he walked towards the center. There was an empty sheath for a torch just by the podium, so Killian placed the torch there. Once he pulled his hand away, blue-green words lit up all around the podium. 'A bean is not always a bean,' it read. All this work for a bean... Killian reached for the box and opened it, finding a single bean sitting upon a velvet pillow. Well, at least he found it. He tucked the bean into his breast pocket. 

Now that he had the bean, he needed to find a way out. Killian stepped away from the podium, wondering where the exit could be in this courtyard of sorts. He didn't get very far, however. As before when he had been separated from Emma, the floor gave way from under him.

He yelled as gravity sent him through a chute. Faster and faster he fell, unable to get a grip on the walls with his hook. His hook didn't break, instead he just drew a line in the walls as he shot through the chute towards what would surely be his doom. Eventually he was going to hit a flat surface, and he would probably die instantly upon impact. 

Except he was wrong. Killian found the end of the chute as it curved up ever so slightly. Suddenly he burst through an opening and was airborne for a few seconds before hitting the ground, hard. He groaned.

"There he is!" he heard a woman yell. He was seeing stars and heard a ringing in his ears, unable to see or recognize the voice.

"Killian!" That voice he knew. Emma. Footsteps sounded as people ran over to him. He felt hands on him, helping him sit up. His back hurt and he still couldn't see. But he would know those hands anywhere. Emma brushed his hair out of his eyes. "You're soaked."

"Aye..." he groaned.

"Well, that's all of us," said David. The ringing was subsiding now, and he could recognize the voices around him.

"Useless," said Regina. "All of that work and we all got tossed out like a bad habit."

The stars finally gave way, and he could see. Regina stood off to the side, hands on her hips as she paced and pursed her lips. She looked annoyed. Henry stood nearby, looking every bit like a broody teenager. Snow and Emma we kneeling by him, checking him for injury. David was standing just beyond them, looking at him with concern. Yes, that was everyone that had been sucked into this land. Everyone was well.

"What happened?" he asked as he rolled his shoulders.

"Everyone got kicked out of the maze somehow," Emma told him as she touched his shoulder. "After you fell through the trap door, I fell through one too. Landed out here. Mom and Dad were already here."

"Henry and I fell through one too," Regina commenting, sounding very annoyed.

"No bean," David told them, rubbing his hand along his jaw.

"A waste of time," Regina said, scoffing.

"Not necessarily," Snow piped in. "At least we know where the bean isn't."

They started going back and forth about whether or not the whole thing was a complete waste or not, and what their next plan should be. Silently, Killian pulled the bean from his breast pocket and held it out. The only one to notice was Emma, who still kneeled over him.

"You found it," she said, looking at him with proud eyes.

The rest stopped speaking and looked over at them. "Oh, good," said Regina. She stepped over to him and plucked the bean from his open palm. "Now we can go home." David smiled and helped Snow up. Henry silently joined the group. Emma helped him stand. Once they were all ready, Regina tossed the bean onto the ground.

"Think of Storybrooke," said Henry, reaching for Regina's hand. Each of them held on to the one next to them, and once the portal was completely open, they all jumped.

\----

No one asked him how he retrieved the bean. Except for Emma. She laid her head against his shoulder as they were laying in bed, calm and safe and warm. 

"How'd you do it?" she asked. "All of us were spat out of that maze really fast. How did you get to the bean?"

"I fell."

"Onto the bean?" she asked sarcastically with a chuckle and a grin.

He shrugged. "All in a day's work for a pirate, really."

She scoffed. "Yeah, whatever."


End file.
